After a slew of injuries, 2024 was a rough year for Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospects as a whole. What was a setback for players like Ricky Tiedemann, Brandon Barriera, Landen Maroudis, and Chad Dallas might be an opportunity for other young players to rocket up the organizational chain.

One of those young pitchers is 24-year-old Alex Amalfi. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022, Amalfi now has three seasons of pro ball under his belt and has been climbing up the ranks in the Blue Jays farm system.

After parts of two seasons in single-A Dunedin, the right-hander graduated to high-A Vancouver last year, but with a twist. Instead of being groomed as a starter, Amalfi transitioned over to the bullpen as a long reliever with the Canadians.

In a career-high 36 appearances in Vancouver, Amalfi posted a 3.28 ERA with 87 strikeouts to 25 walks. While the results weren’t immediate, Amalfi finished the season strong and cut his walk rate by 6.6% year over year, while upping his strikeout rate by 3.5% compared to 2023.

Progression isn’t always linear, as Amalfi experienced straight out of the gate in 2024. He did his best to get accustomed to his new role in the organization and found it a challenge at first.

“It was tough,” Amalfi told Blue Jays Nation in a recent interview. “Transitioning from starter to bullpen, you have to have a different routine going into the games and even into the week.

“Learning how to take care of my body would be the biggest thing. Being available multiple times a week for two to three innings. Learning how to adjust and be as available as I can was the hardest thing.”

As someone who came from the starting rotation just one year prior, it takes a whole different mindset pitching out of rotation compared to being a bullpen guy. Once Amalfi got over those first few hurdles and became accustomed to his new routine, it was smooth sailing.

“As a starter, you can pace yourself. Coming out of the bullpen for one inning or two innings, you have to be full throttle right away,” Amalfi said. “I think that was one of the hardest things for me to do, just because I was so used to being a starter. Expecting to go 5 to 7 innings a game and pacing myself. Learning to go out there and be ready right from the get go and throwing as intentful as I can right away.”

Amalfi hit his stride in July of last year, being named as the Northwest League’s Pitcher of the Month. In eight appearances, he had a sparkling 0.55 ERA with 24 strikeouts across 16.1 innings. He was practically unhittable, anchoring the Canadians’ bullpen.

At that juncture in the season, Amalfi felt confident with his pitches and wasn’t afraid to attack the zone. Once he trusted his stuff, that’s when the right-hander’s season took off. During his appearances on July 23, Amalfi struck out seven batters in 3.1 innings of relief work.

The 24-year-old has been stationed at Blue Jays spring training camp since early February and has backed up a few big league games, even making an appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 2nd in a spring training game.

Phillies shortstop Trea Turner was in the on-deck circle before being replaced in the game by pinch-hitter Justin Crawford. Although pitchers do their best to stay level-headed on the mound, it’s not every day you face big league hitters, let alone the defending National League East Champions with ample firepower in their lineup. Amalfi tried his best not to get too star-struck on the mound.

“I am definitely a lot more amped,” Amalfi said. “I can definitely say when I was out there my heart was racing and it took a second for me to wind it down a little bit. It was a fun atmosphere going into those big league spring training games and being around everyone was really cool. The whole time you’re just focused, excited and enjoying the moment.”

The offseason and spring training is a time for tinkering, and Amalfi worked in the gym to get stronger and bigger, with the goal of adding more firepower to his arm, which should translate to an uptick in velocity.

Other than that, he worked with pitching coaches in the Blue Jays organization to develop a new “kick change” grip on his changeup to give it a little more life out of his hand. He’ll spike his middle finger onto the baseball just like a knuckle curveball.

“It’s been a pitch that I’ve had since college and I’ve always loved throwing a changeup,” Amalfi said. “Since being in pro ball, it wasn’t the pitch I necessarily needed or was a go-to pitch for me. I still want it in my back pocket, so this offseason once I got my other pitches down and feeling good, I started working on the changeup. I switched it to a new kick change grip, and so far it’s been feeling good.”

New York Mets starter Clay Holmes recently explained to Rob ‘Pitching Ninja’ Friedman what this kick change grip is all about and how pitchers like Amalfi use it to keep opposing hitters off balance.

The next obvious step is for Amalfi to graduate up to double-A and start 2025 as a member of the Fisher Cats bullpen, but until then, he’s anxiously waiting to hear about his opening day assignment for the upcoming season.

Given the severe need for pitching at the big league level for the Blue Jays and the windows of opportunity, it might not be long before fans see Amalfi climbing up the system. With another banner year under his belt, Amalfi could be pushing up to the big leagues in a hurry.

“My main goal is to start the year in double-A this year,” Amalfi said. “My goal is to make it up to the big leagues as quickly as I can, but a good baseline is to move up each year to a different level. I played last year for the full year in Vancouver for the full year, so I’m hoping to start up in double-A this year and keep moving up the chain.”